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Eastlake HUB

Last Saturday’s Eastlake Hub drill simulated a “Seattle Fault” 6.7 magnitude earthquake and a four-foot seiche on Lake Union, which is not a tsunami but is a lot of violent sloshing back and forth in the lake’s basin.

“We’re assuming the worst,”’ said Jess Levine, Eastlake Hub’s Public Information Officer for the day. “People won’t be able to get over I-5 or the University Bridge. Eastlake would be cut off, and we don’t have a lot of resources,” he added, noting that the nearest fire station would be in Belltown because Station #22 across I-5 on Roanoke wouldn’t be able to reach Eastlake until all bridges are certified safe by SDOT.

I-5 could conceivably be an impassable
canyon dividing the city.

“Some people could be coming here injured and hysterical,” Jess said referring to Rogers Playfield where the hub drill was being held and is Eastlake’s information clearing house should disaster strike. The hub won’t have supplies though. Individuals and families need to prepare for themselves. But it will be the communications center. “The city is telling people to be prepared for at least two weeks of being off the grid,” said Levine. That means no electricity, no gas, no water, no phone, and no internet.

Seattle hubs are all volunteer run, and Eastlake was one of 14 neighborhood hubs participating in the city-wide “Seattle Fault” earthquake drill June 1. Eastlake Hub currently has nine active members, and after Saturday’s drill will likely be adding new members. The public was invited to stop by, participate, and sign up for email notices. “We plan to have more local drills and share preparedness information,” said Margaret Sanders, Eastlake Hub Captain, to get Eastlake prepared.

Hub volunteer Anne Bonn and Eastlake Hub Captain Margaret Sanders discuss a message that has come in. In the foreground is the jar with the day’s possible scenarios.

The biggest need right now, she added, is for more radio operators, either GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) for communicating with family and friends when cell service is limited or out, as well as with other hubs, or ham for communicating with the city and for that matter anywhere in the world.

KC McNeil is Eastlake’s only ham radio operator affiliated with the hub. He became one after joining the hub last year when he realized there was no one to fill the role.

KC and Margaret both expressed the
hope that other ham radio operators who live or work in Eastlake will
sign on to help in emergencies.

When a scrap of paper with the day’s
possible scenarios was pulled from a jar, this one – a sewer break on Fairview
Avenue, with raw sewage pouring onto the street, KC radioed that information to
the city on the ham radio.

“This is a drill,” he began, reading
off the message prepared in careful legible block caps as recommended by the
planners. It wasn’t clear if Columbia Tower, Seattle’s headquarters got the
message. They never responded.

There are issues, KC said. He had tested the ham radio at the top of the
hill on Boylston Ave. earlier, where it seemed to work fine, but down the hill
on Rogers Playfield where he was set up, it was apparently not working so well.
They may need to find the money to purchase an antenna for the playfield or a
stronger radio, he added.

At any rate that’s what the drill was
for – to help sort out those types of issues.

KC McNeil listens to the radio. He has both a ham and GMRS radio at the table.

Besides trying to get messages out to the city and other hubs and hearing from them, the hub had a makeshift communications network for neighbors spread out along the fence around the tennis courts. The fence served as a message board for people to put up notices of what they needed and others to respond or add what they had to share, and for one hub volunteer to write the latest news on a large board.

It also provided laminated posters of
what to do if the water was out; how to make potable water, how to set up
makeshift toilets; how long food will last in the fridge or freezer with no
power (advice: don’t open the doors).

“We need a lot more volunteers,” said Jess, “to fulfill the various roles and be interchangeable – nobody knows where they’ll be when the big one strikes. They may not even be in the neighborhood at all. The hub is cross-training because of that uncertainty.

Hub volunteer BJ Bergevin writes down the latest news for the community to read at the emergency drill, “Full electricity outage.”

“The hub is being formed for all types of emergencies not just earthquakes,” he added. “Besides, it’s good for community building.”

If you’re interested in becoming a
radio operator, there are two options: GMRS will allow you to communicate
locally, and there are no classes or tests to take, just a fee for a five-year
license. Getting a ham license is more involved, on a par with getting a
driver’s license, although some would say not even that hard. Classes are offered periodically in the
area, and you no longer need Morse code to qualify. You just need to know the
protocols, and you’ll be able to communicate with anyone, anywhere. Ham radio
waves can go to the moon and back.

Featured photo at top — left to right hub volunteers: KC McNeil, Kathi Woods, and Anne Bonn